Mughlai Mutton Biryani

Biryani...The word seems so small and inadequate to describe a dish of such fame.  Just have a look at the biryani page in Wikipedia...the various styles, the types, the variations, the different versions of it, its mind-boggling.  In our family as in every other muslim household, every important occasions like birthdays, anniversaries, festivals, and even Sunday lunches and family get-togethers are incomplete without biryani.  But I do think we muslims tend to have a rather casual attitude about it.  We really do not give it the reverence and awe it inspires in most people I have met.  My cousins and I have tried many different kinds of biryani and the mughlai biryani is one of the best tasting ones.  Personally, I think my mum makes the best biryani in the whole wide world (the people who have tasted it, will agree with me!!) but that is one recipe I will share later or I may not..I am rather possessive about it.

Mughlai Mutton Biryani

Ingredients:
1 kg mutton
1/2 kg basmati rice, soaked for 30 minutes
1 tsp garam masala powder
1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
2 cups curds
1/2 cup cashewnuts (about 100 gms)
4 tsp chili powder
1 big onion, sliced
1 tsp black pepper powder
1 bayleaf
a 3 inch cinnamon stick
1 cup of mint leaves, chopped
2 tomatoes chopped
1 cup coriander leaves, chopped
1 cup milk
Few strands of saffron
6 tbsp oil
salt
1 tsp ghee

Method:

• Marinate the meat with curd, garam masala, and ginger-garlic paste for 2 hours.
• Soak the saffron strands in 1 cup of warm milk and keep aside.
• Fry the onions to a crisp golden brown.
• Fry cashews to a golden color and keep aside.
• In a bowl, mix the coriander leaves, mint leaves, and the fried onions.
• Heat oil in a vessel and fry the cinnamon and bayleaf.
• Add pepper powder and chilli powder along with the tomatoes.  Add marinated meat and about 4 tsp of salt and mix well.
• Cook till completely dry and the meat is done, on a medium to low fire.  Keep stirring occasionally so that it does not stick to the vessel.
• Heat about 1 liter of water in a separate vessel.  When the water starts to boil, add the rice and 1 tsp of salt and cook till the rice is half done.  Drain the rice.
• Grease a heavy-bottomed dish with ghee and add a layer of rice, then, add a layer of the meat mixture, and then a layer of the mint-coriander-onion mix.  Repeat the layers and end with a layer of rice on top.  Add the milk on top and cook on low flame for about 25 minutes or till the rice is completely done.  Serve hot with raita.

RAITA:

Ingredients:

500 gms cups of curd

2 large onions, finely sliced.
1 small cucumber, chopped
3 green chillies, finely chopped
A handful of coriander leaves, chopped
salt to taste
1/4 tsp of red chilli powder

Method:
Mix all ingredients together except the red chilli powder.  Just before serving, sprinkle the chilli powder on top sparingly.